Finally take the time to blog, but no pictures....I'll try and work on that. 

We've been hitting up the splash park a lot these last few weeks and the kids are loving it. We've also been playing tons of "Spiderman and Spidergirl". Henry IS Spiderman. Constantly.

Henry is also going to preschool this Fall. I've never been a huge preschool person and never planned on sending him, but we are all so excited about the decision. I think the transition to full day Kindergarten will go so much more smoothly to start off this way (and it's a nice transition for mamma too). He is SO excited to meet new friends and play and learn. He's probably the most social little human being I've ever known so it's probably going to be the most exciting thing he's ever done. I/him/we can't wait!

I'm getting wicked excited for our trip to Boston next week. Wa-hoo!!

We should probably be responsible and get a cheap hotel, but there's a bed and breakfast on an island that you have to take a ferry too....I mean really, we're probably not taking a trip like this again for a long time....right?? Maybe at least one night there?? Please, RJ?? :)

I signed up for Pitnerest and just as expected, I want to change my entire house because of it. I've been wanting to paint the trim in my house white the entire 6 years that we've lived here, but was constantly talking myself out of it. And now I'm very seriously considering doing it. I may lose a few friendships over this decision, but the thought of the amount of light and freshness it would bring to this house makes me kind of giddy. I'm so over dark. And I'm sure all you die hard natural woodwork people would eventually forgive me and love me again, right?! Right??!

I made some roman shades for our kitchen and once we get them hung up I'll post some pictures. Still have to get the floor trim up and a few small things, but then it will be entirely done. Phew.

Hope you are all enjoying this beautiful (and hot!) summer! 

Maine

I'm sure I've told you all a bazillion times (because I'm so excited!) (not because I'm bragging) (really!) but RJ won a couple of free airline tickets a while back at his job to ANYWHERE-IN-THE-UNITED-STATES. I guess they were technically $12.50 a piece since he spent $25 on raffle tickets for a fundraiser they were doing, but still, they feel free.

The little kicker is that they are stand-by tickets so there's that chance we'll be stuck in an airport for longer than expected, but we're thinking (hoping) that flights to Boston via Milwaukee won't be too crowded.

It was hard to make the final decision, but have both wanted to rent a car and drive the coast of Maine for a long time and thought this was our best chance to do it. We watched some Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern on Netflix and it has made us giddy for all the yummy seafood and for the BEAUTY of the coastal towns and beaches. We'll just be going from a Thursday through Monday trip, but are making tentative plans to move there in a year of so.

(kidding)

(kind of)

Have any of you been there? Any suggestions?
Any souvenir requests?

Have a great Thursday!!

Bits and Pieces

We went to a parade (on the 3rd) for the 4th of July.

It was so funny to see their different personalities while they watched the parade and collected their candy.

Henry would wait patiently and wave. If there was some candy on the ground next to him I'd tell him he could pick it up and put it in his bag....but he already had that candy so didn't need more. (so not like his candy-lovin' momma!)

Then we let Harper get down and join in on the fun. She'd run out into the street to grab the candy. And the first piece she got, she opened and shoved in her mouth. Every piece of candy she'd open and shove in her mouth before we had a chance to stop her. I don't think the idea of eating his candy even crossed his mind until he saw his crazy sister in action.

I love how sweet he was being, but I'm sure the next parade we go to he'll be a little more ambitious....he's got to keep up with Harper!

On the 4th of July we went on a walk down to one of the new, super cool bridges. It was hot, but fun.

Harper wore a super pretty dress on Sunday, but would not let me get a picture. Sunday mornings can be so dramatic around here.

I did a couple of paintings for someone and earned myself some money to buy the supplies for the window treatments in our kitchen/dining room. 

Here's the fabric:

Love.

And here are the cabinets. I got a new green and don't plan on distressing anymore. I got some cute new glass knobs for the drawers and then we just used our old handles for the doors.

My favorite part about the island is having snacks and doing crafts.

Henry is quite the artist, huh?!

Here are some plates I've collected over the last few months for a collage above our buffet.

And this fuuuuuunky-licious clock I got at a garage sale. 

To paint or not to paint?

And a funky little bird and cute dishes (for 10 cents!) for my shelves.

And 16! tie headbands to send off to my friend's store in Nebraska.I hadn't had a chance to crafts in weeeeeks, so it was fun.

And those are some bits and pieces or life lately. We've had lots of fun playing at splash parks, riding bikes, and playing with friends. Oh, Happy Summer!

Have a good week!

We had a fun week at my parent's house playing with all the Bloom cousins. We got to meet our newest, David, too! He is super, super, sweet and I can't wait to see him again.

The fun thing about going to my hometown is all the Swedish horses...they are everywhere. Little ones on the downtown businesses, people's houses, and a couple of very large ones too.

No trip is complete without some sort of mural:

The weather was kind of a bummer and it was cloudy and rainy everyday. Which meant lots of playing inside and lots of shopping at junky thrift stores (my favorite kind!!) in nearby towns. We came back Thursday night to a house that had COUNTERTOPS! Woo-Hoo! That was a long 6 weeks to wait. Here's a tiny sneak peek at our island. You can see a part of the green paint I started with, but it's not quite right so it's back to the paint store for me.

Here's a totally random picture of our new fish. One of them passed away while we were gone, but RJ replaced it by the time we got home. He also bought a ghost shrimp, which supposedly help keep gold fish bowls a little cleaner. Unfortunately, the little shrimp only lasted a day...when we woke up in the morning we found it next to the bowl on the counter. It had jumped out. Isn't that disgusting?!

This week my in-laws are in town so we all went to the zoo yesterday for Member Monday, which means FREE train rides! 

We also got to feed the giraffes:

And the birds:

We have loved having a zoo pass this year. *Hopefully* they do another groupon deal next year!

RJ has today off so we're working on the kitchen some more and heading out to the lake house this afternoon to spend more time with grandma and grandpa. Don't you just love summer?!

Hope you all have a lovely week!

Life Lately:

Making decorations for VBS.

A week of VBS.

Ice Cream. 

Adventureland!

And now the kiddos and I are off to spend the week at my parent's house. 

When I get back, I'll have to introduce you to our newest family members:

Red Light, Green Light, and Yellow Light.

(they're fish)

Have a good week!

I love this time of year. Today is a bit too hot for me, but on days where it's lovely and in the 80s we'll meet daddy at the park for lunch. Usually on Wednesdays. And sometimes we'll get Happy Meals. Cuz it's fun. And super cheap on Wednesdays!

We also got our first watermelon of the season. Just cutting into it and smelling the beautiful scent brought so many summer-y memories. 

(those are still our old countertops...*hopefully* our new ones will finally come in this week!)

We also got to go to a little birthday party on Saturday and the kids got to wear their suits and splash around in the yard. They had so much fun! Can't wait to get our pool set up in the back yard.

And lastly, my stellar husband put up our shelving!! I still have some work to do on the top shelf to make it look right, but I'm really loving some exposed shelving. The other wall cupboards are staying up and you might notice they are tie-dyed white and cream. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll get to it.
Meg puts old globes on top of her cupboards in her kitchen and I'm very tempted to copy her. Maybe just one right on that top shelf. Wouldn't that be cute?

Crazy week. Gotta run. Have a good one!

We celebrated out 8 YEAR anniversary on Tuesday.

8 years! I love my RJ so much and can't wait to spend the next 80+ years with him.

I love how God so perfectly fit us together. 

The kids and I walked to Dahl's that afternoon to buy some ingredients to make salmon tacos. They were so yummy that I'm making them again tonight. RJ walked in the door with flowers and another adorable set of measuring spoons to add to my little collection.

It was a simple day.

And I loved it.

AND I was able to cook-on-our-stove!! It's finally up and running and I've been using it like crazy! I'm trying to decide what will be the first thing that I bake. Ideas??

My 10 weeks at Farrell's is up on Saturday, but I tested last night because Saturday is going to be too crazy-busy of a day. 

And since I'm sure you're all dying to know my results, here they are!

(I posted on my FB acct that they are giving away 10 FREE admissions into the next 10 week cycle. Go for it!!! You'll love it. It's hard, but you'll love it.)

These numbers are the total lost since I started:

Chest: 3 5/8 inches

Waist: 5 inches

Arms: 1/2 inch...still seems like they're smaller, but must be because of my bulging biceps. ;)

Thighs: 2 1/4 inches

Hips: 5 1/4 inches

So a grand total of 16 5/8 inches of stuff off of my body!

I lost a total of 13.2 lbs.

(I have to say, it's so nice not really caring about what the stupid scale says and it feels good to be healthier and getting stronger.)

I was able to do 51 push-ups in a minute and 36 sit-ups. 

AND, what I am most excited about, is that I finished the whole mile without walking. Pretty sure I haven't run a whole mile without walking since High School. My first attempt I ran/walked it in 14:55 and last night I ran it in 10:08. Still not fast, but I felt really good.

My goal when I started this whole thing was to simply finish it. I had no idea what to expect so I'm pretty happy.

So that's all. Hopefully I'll post again about Farrell's results, but don't worry, it won't be for another full year! 

Update on my little nephew David...he is still in the NICU, but he is completely off oxygen and the feeding tube and now we are just waiting and praying for his bilirubin numbers to get below 10 and then he can go home! I know they are so ready to start their life as a family at HOME, so please pray for him! 

Have a lovely Thursday!!